About Ilise Benun
Business Expert for Creative Professionals
Ilise Benun is the author of 7 business books for the “creatively self-employed,” a national speaker and founder of Marketing-Mentor.com.
She tailors her one-on-one mentoring to the needs of each and every creative professional who engages her and helps you build the business that provides the freedom you want.
There is no big-ticket "program" to commit to. Every session is customized to provide exactly what you need when you need it -- no more and no less. You won't be overwhelmed by material or left to figure out how to apply the idea to your own situation.
During her almost 30 years in business, she has developed and delivered programming for creative professionals, notably as co-founder/host of the Creative Business/Design Entrepreneurship program of HOW Design Live.
She has also developed popular online courses for CreativeLive.com:
- Command the Fees You Deserve
- Don't Get Pushed Around: An Introvert's Guide to Getting What You Need at Work
- What to Say When...Tips and Scripts for Tricky Situations at Work
Connect with Ilise Benun on LinkedIn and check out on About.me/ilisebenun
Speaking
Since 1993, Benun has been conducting marketing workshops for art schools and trade organizations that cater to creative professionals, including HOW Design Live, HOW Interactive Conference, Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario (Canada), Graphic Designers of Canada, NY Designs (LaGuardia Community College/CUNY), AIGA, Spark, Graphic Artists Guild, SCAD, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), The School of Visual Arts (NYC), Pratt Institute, Kendall College of Art and Design, Sage College of Albany, New Jersey Creatives, The Freelancers Union, Editorial Freelancers Association, International Freelancers Day, International Association of Business Communicators, Business Marketing Association, NYU Entrepreneurship Summit, the 92nd St. Y and many more. (Videos and details here: http://marketing-mentor.com/speaking)
Writing
Benun is the author of 7 books, including, “The Creative Professional’s Guide to Money,” “The Designer’s Guide to Marketing and Pricing (HOW Design Books), “Stop Pushing Me Around: A Workplace Guide for the Timid, Shy and Less Assertive” (Career Press), “The Art of Self Promotion,” "Self-Promotion Online" (HOW Design Books) and "Designing Web Sites:// for Every Audience" (HOW Design Books). She also co-authored “Public Relations for Dummies, 2nd Edition” (Wiley) with Eric Yaverbaum and Bob Bly.
Benun is also the host of 2 podcasts, (the Marketing Mentor Podcast and the HOW Design Live podcast) and the lead author on 2 blogs: The Marketing Mix Blog (name by QuickBooks as one of the 100 Best Business Blogs) and the Creative Freelancer Blog, and publishes a bi-weekly email newsletter, "Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor," which is read by 15,000+. Her work has also been featured in national publications (both online and off), including Entrepreneur.com, HOW Magazine, Toronto Globe and Mail, Inc. Magazine, Nation’s Business, Self, Essence, Crains New York Business, Dynamic Graphics, Working Woman, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Denver Post and more.
More here:
- Ilise's author page on Amazon.com
- Articles on Entrepreneur.com
- Articles on HOWDesign.com & other materials produced for HOW Magazine/F&W Media
- Quoted in Fast Company article, "How Freelancers Can Protect Themselves and Get Paid On Time"
- Ilise's chapter on Marketing in The Business of Graphic Design: The RGD Professional Handbook (the first and only comprehensive Canadian guide to maintaining a graphic design business)
Curriculum Development
Benun is Program Partner for HOW Design Live (http://www.howdesignlive.com) and co-founder in 2008 of one of its original events, The Creative Freelancer Conference.
Benun has also developed and delivered online courses for Maryland Institute College of Art's Graduate Program, The Business of Art & Design and HOW Design University, most as part of the Certificate in Creative Business Entrepreneurship, including:
- Graphic Design Proposals 101
- The Key Steps to Earning More in Your Creative Business
- Strategies for Creative Freelancers
- Developing A Successful Online Marketing Plan
- How to Start Your Own Freelance Business
Watch videos about the HOWU courses here.
She was also the lead developer and trainer of a curriculum for the Freelancers Union called, “Freelance 360: How to Be a Better Boss of You,” which included a series of 6 workshops and panel presentations led by “expert freelancers” covering:
- Work, Life and You: Staying Sane While Managing All Three
- Setting a Strong Foundation for Your Freelance Business
- Thriving Networks: Marketing and Connecting That Works
- Be Their Go-To: Building Lasting Relationships with Clients & Collaborators
- Work Smarter, Not Harder: Streamlining Your Day to Day Freelance Life
- Planning for Growth
Want more? Lots of podcasts and interviews here:
- With Brian Clark on the Unemployable Podcast
- With Carl Smith on the Bureau Briefing Podcast
- With Ed Gandia on how to pick a niche and smart networking strategies for creative professionals
- With Emily Lewis & Lea Alcantara of CTRL+CLICK CAST
- With Chris Martin for the Get Work to Work podcast
- With David Bain of Digital Marketing Radio about smart marketing objectives.
- With Jeff Sauer of the Jumpstart Jeffalyitics Podcast
- With Ram Castillo on the Giant Thinkers podcast
- With Marc Harmon on breaking the marketing plan down into a step-by-step process.
- With Nathan Powell for the Nusii podcast
- Q&A interviews on:
- American Marketing Association's Marketing News
- AWAI's The Barefoot Writer
- Startup Savant
- HOW Design Live with Ed Roberts
- Sunbird Creative: Her Story, Her Success
- How to Deal with Difficult Clients on Marketing for Creatives
- "How to Run a Successful Creative Business According to Ilise Benun," by Val Sopi
When she's not working, you can find Ilise walking Fanny in Forsyth Park.
